Master’s Symposium Talk on Integral Hiking

Below is embedded a talk I gave at the 2016 Masters Symposium for the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies on May 12th, 2016, given on the topic of “Integral Hiking,” which is of course the name of the blog itself.

But what is “integral hiking” and why should it be considered remotely important? The fact is that while hiking might just be considered a fun thing to do on the weekends, it’s also a practice that can engage every part of ourselves: physical, mental, spiritual. In a time in which we seek to encapsulate experience with a selfie, a Facebook update, an Instagram post or a check off the bucket list, how can we deepen our relationship with nature in a way that allows us to deepen our relationship with ourselves?

Hiking invites us to venture out into the wilderness — not just as it exists “out there,” in some national park, but perhaps equally as much to the deeper wilderness of our own internal selves.

Talk inspired by the practices of Tantric meditation, the philosophy of Eric Voegelin and the insights of integral ecology.